title: Localization of mitochondrial carnitine/acylcarnitine translocase in sensory neurons from rat dorsal root ganglia.
abstract: The carnitine/acylcarnitine transporter is a transport system whose function is essential for the mitochondrial β-oxidation of fatty acids. Here, the presence of carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier (CACT) in nervous tissue and its sub-cellular localization in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons have been investigated. Western blot analysis using a polyclonal anti-CACT antibody produced in our laboratory revealed the presence of CACT in all the nervous tissue extracts analyzed. Confocal microscopy experiments performed on fixed and permeabilized DRG neurons co-stained with the anti-CACT antibody and the mitochondrial marker MitoTracker Red clearly showed a mitochondrial localization for the carnitine/acylcarnitine transporter. The transport activity of CACT from DRG extracts reconstituted into liposomes was about 50 % in respect to liver extracts. The experimental data here reported represent the first direct evidence of the expression of the carnitine/acylcarnitine transporter in sensory neurons, thus supporting the existence of the β-oxidation pathway in these cells.
authors.affiliation: CNR Institute of Biomembranes and Bioenergetics, via Amendola165/A, 70126, Bari, Italy, a.tonazzi@ibbe.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tonazzi
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mantovani
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colella
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Terenghi
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Indiveri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002333:Carnitine Acyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D008081:Liposomes; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D008081:Liposomes; D002333:Carnitine Acyltransferases